Today I Walked to the Sea

Today I  walked to the sea.

Along the seaside trail.

Just me, myself and I...and Japan.

In my revery I buried my feet in the sand and the water.

Sayonara beautiful land,

Beautiful people.

INTERNATIONAL FOOD FAIR/GARAGE SALE Before/After

Annual school fundraiser for the International School. 

BEFORE

 Rachel made whoopie pies for the international dessert booth.

 This is the last day of preparation for the garage sale that Rachel chaired this year.

 Items are labeled,

 and categorized.

 Clothing is folded,

and sizes are marked.

We head for the train station from home to meet Rachel at the school.

AFTER

The fun begins. Rachel meets people at the door and leaves the task of answering questions to those who speak fluent Japanese.

See if you can find Mike in this photo.

 The Food Fair in the yard of the school.

 The longest line was at the Indian food booth, Mmmm... curry.

 This is the international dessert booth. Rachel's whoopie pies in the lower left hand corner are almost sold out.

 The elementary students assemble for a song as part of the entertainment.

Luke and Sean playing at Sean's kindergarten playground.

Ikebana (Japanese Flower Arranging) Class

 Our Sensei instructing another class member. One of the neighbor's mother from Australia. This is a popular time of year in the international community for Grandmas and Grandpas to visit.

 This is our arrangement after Sensei fixed it up a little. In the background; Thea from England and Kristin from Wisconsin.

 This is the one Sensei did.

This is the finished product of our class.

Buddhist Temple Grounds

 After our hike over the mountain and a short train ride we stroll through a business area that takes us to the Suma-dera temple grounds.

This is a local temple in Kobe with historical importance. The building behind Rachel and Dad is the entrance gate.

Entrance gates have statues that pay homage to warriors. Back in the 800's warriors were VIPs.

All the entrance gates to the temples we have seen so far have a bay on each side with a statue of a warrior.

The temple was erected in 886 under Emperor Koko. This was the time of the Gempei Wars. Samurai appeared around the year 900. The Samurai clans boasting the greatest influence were the Taira and the Minamoto. A major battle took place in Kobe. The winners, the Minamoto clan went on to establish the Kamakura Shogunate. It was from there that Japan transitioned toward a society that centered around samurai.

The Tale of Heike tells of duel between Taira no Atsumori and Kumagai Naozane set in the area around Suma-dera. Dad and Rachel are in front of the depiction of this battle. The waves and sand are created by painting gravel.

Kumagai Naozane, although agonizing that the young commander of the Taira clan is the same age as his own child, kills him.

That young samurai's identity was not known at the moment of his death.

But on his waist he was carrying the famed flute Aoba-the possession of the celebrated flutist Taira no Atsumori.

It is said that Naozane, in anguish over what his duties as a samurai entailed, abandoned his position and became a monk.

Atsumori's burial mound is here at Suma-dera. His flute along with other items of the clans are on display here.

We are leaving the garden area.

Here I'm tying to figure out what photos I can delete so I have more room on my card for this amazing place.

This is the area leading to the cemetery.

A three story pagoda. 

They don't cater to tourists here so there is no English on signs to explain what we see here.

The grave sites are exquisite. They each have a place to make offerings.

I don't know the significance of these rocks or what the writing says but in typical Japanese style it is beauty made from simplicity.

THE DAY WE WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN-TO SEE WHAT WE COULD SEE

 Here we are at the end of the neighborhood,

 at the trailhead of the mountain.

 We begin our ascent.

 Onward...

 and upward we go.

 And up...

 We pass a sign that I guess tells us if we see a forest fire to get our pail and run like a rabbit to pour water on it.

 Upward still with some fellow climbers.

 Is this why they have the healthiest older population in the world?

 A phantom summit.

 But near the top is a park.

 The gardener is planting fall flowers.

 Reminds me of my job at home.

 Heading for a refill flat of pansies. These are typical work clothes. I want some for myself.

 From the arch you can see the area where Rachel lives. Her house is in the trees behind that light colored two story house in the lower left corner.

 This wider shot shows her hill with the bay and the bridge across the strait. It's the longest suspension bridge in the world.  There is a line of boats and ships all day heading out to we are not sure where.

But there is still an upward climb before we cross the crest.

 We almost lost Dad at this point to the chair lift that takes people up and down the mountain. It was very tempting.

 We still have to get to the observatory over there at the top of the ridge.

 These autumn flowers are captivatingly soft,

 But let's reach our goal.

 We made it! A little refreshment in the rotating observatory.

 Out the windows we can see what's on the other side of the mountain.

 A school group was up there.

 Let's begin our descent.

 Is this the Flintstone's dining room set?

 On the mountain trail everyone is friendly, they smile and says "Ohayoo gozaimas." On the streets people don't make eye contact.

 When Rachel and I first climbed the mountain we came up this side.

 It's stone stairs all the way.

 It was brutal for me!

 I like going down the stairs much better!

 We're almost there! I see the park.

 Civilization! 

 Some refreshment.

Now off to the train and some sightseeing. Ja mata